Pan lifter



May 22, 1928.- 1,670,732

J. w. MONTGOMERY PAN LIFTER Filed April 4, 1927 IINVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 22, 1928.

JAME m at-w an r sresrtawessl is ea- 24 i yrae- Application fl ed a ri 4, 19,23, Serial No. leases My invention relates to improvements in paniifters'fand the general object of my inv'ejiitionfis a; provide apan lifter of simple edid efiieient const ruct'ionfthat maybe conv'iiieiit' l ly used for picking up pans or dishes or cooking utensil-s that are: hotor that can not betdnve'nienci handled with the hands.

"Arm-thgrbb a '0; m invention is't'q simplify "and 'che apen the construction of pan lifters'of this nature and to render the sain'e more easily assembled and more efiieight, 'ep'era'tiq More specifie'objects which form'the sub jectmattrof thea'ppended clalms, are to proyide ajoan lifter of this natureembody ing' two parallel rods spaced a short distance apart, 'conne'ctedat'the'ir outer ends by clip or link means and having their inner ends i otatably mbu'nt ed' in the" end 0t aha ndle, said rod-s having gear segment-s secured theretoj adjacent the "end of the, handle that are'dispose'd to mesh "with gear rack means for rotating the rods, the gear rack means having fian'ges'that overhang the gear sega single screw."

i A further object is to provide a pan.- litter of this nature in W hichthe pan grasping arms are curved so as to be clear ofthe con' tents of a pan in case saidcontents extend above the top of the pan. v

Other and morespecific objects will be ap parent from the following description taken i i connection with the accompanying drawngs. I

In the drawings Fig. 1, is a perspective view of a pan litter constructed in acordance with any. invention showing, by 'full lines, the -pan grasping. 'arins open, and by dotted lines, the pan grasping arms closed.

Figl 2,'1s a side elevation of the same show ng the pan grasping arms closed,

Big, 3, is an elevation ofthe outer end ofthe same showing thefarms closed.

Figfit, is end elevation taken from the" outer end, showing the twins; in "engage ment' with 21 pan as they. may appearw'hen piel'ring the 'pan up. 1 'Figrt, is aseeti'on'al View on a larger scale on broken line 5-''5 of Fig. 2, i'llustra'ting the gear segn'ie-nts and gear racka'nd the;

oi' erlfapping"flange that holds the r'o'd'safs sfeihbld intl-i'ehan dl'e. f 'Fi-g."'(3, is a fragmentary detached View partlyfin sectionand partly in plan ofthe l land-l e.

"Referring to the drawings, throughout Y which like'ref'erenc numerals'designate like parts, designates a handle of coiiyenier'it' shape and" size "to be grasped in the ha'iidf 'lhe' h'ahd-le 7 'is p'rovidedwith twoflparalleli spacedapart-bores 8 extending from one end inwardly for "rotatably' receiving and sup: p'ort-ingthe inne'r ends oftworods 10 that extend outwardly prolongation'of said handle in parallel spaced apart, relation; The rods" 10, extend through two spaced apart, holes in atria'ngularly "shapedmeta'l olip 11 that rests against-"the end of t-lie'han die, the clip 11 serving asa' bearing forthe rods and helping to preyent th'eenlargeme'nt,

by"wear, of the'holes 8 in the "handle when the hantlle is madei'gf soft material; as wood. Another triangular clip 12 of duplicate'cohstri'ietion is provided on the outer-ends of the rods 3 10 to support said outer ends" for rotation' in spaced aparflparallet relation; "The extrenie" outer" ends of th'erods' maybe 'en I larged slightly, as by 'soldering' or upsetting,

as at '13 to prevent'displaeementof the clip by ivhih hotpans", di shes," and the like may be moved." 1" is Two approximately shaped pan grasping arms '14, ot'diiplicate' construction, are

rigidly secured to there'spective' rods10'as by bending the ends otsaid' pan grasping arm's around the rods as indicated at'l'5 and soldering or. welding'said 'endsto said rods. The outermost port-Ions 16 of the' pa'n graspiii'g arms'are bentfinwardly"as at' 'lT'at the pointswhere they conn'ectwiththe en'dsoi said pan"gr'a spiilig"a rins to form ho'olrlilie pbrtio'n's for en'gagingbeneath 'thejflan'ge" 18 of a pan or dish QOthat is tofbeli'ftedfi The end members of said pang'rasping'arms are curved as more clearly shown inlTi'gF i, "so N.. M 4" I ,7

said receptacle as indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 4, without coming incontact with the top of said contents. By rotating the rods 10 in the proper directions the pan grasping arms may be swung apart as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, and placed over a pan and then allowed to close so that the portions 16 engage beneath the flanges of the pan.

Two small gear, segments 21 are rigidlysecured to the respective rods 10 near the end of the handle 7 and are adapted to mesh with a rack bar 22 that extends therebetween, see Fig. 5. The rack bar 22 is secured to a flat spring member 23 which has one end fastened to the handle 7 by a screw 24 and which ;isinclined away from said handleandis provided with a thumb piece 25 by which it may be depressed to move the rack bar 22 vertically and rotate the rods 10 in opposite directions. The spring 23 extends downwardly over the front side of the I rack bar and is wider than the rack bar so that it forms flanges 26 that project beyond the toothed edges of the rack bar and overhang the outer sides of the gear segments 21 and prevent removal of the rods 10 from the handle. This flange structure greatly simplifies the assembly of the device and makesit possible to secure the rodslO within the handle by the one screw 24 that secures the spring 23 to said handle.

In the use of this pain lifter the user grasps the handle 7 and opens the pan grasping arms 14 by pressing downwardly with the thumb on the thumb piece 25. With the arms 14 thus open the device is placed above the pan that is to be lifted and the arms are allowed to close, by reason of the force of the spring 23, onto the, pan, the portions 16 will engage beneath the flanges 18 of the. pan and will securely grip the pan and permit it to be lifted without danger of tipping or dropping. The spring 23 closes the arms 14 onto the pan' and'the weight of the pan and-its contents tends to cause said arms to hold more tightly. The pan lifter may be used on any receptacle or utensil of substantially any shape that is provided with flanges, or equivalent means, under which the arm portions 16 may engage. The

compact for hanging up or putting away.

The foregoing descrlption and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the invention be made as are fairly and means for turning said rods to open andclose said pan grasping members.

2. In a pan lifter, a'handle, two rotatably mounted, spaced apart, parallel rods extending outwardly from the end of the handle, clip means connecting the outer ends of the rods, two substantially U shaped pan grasping members each having its two extremities rigidly secured to one of therodsandj its outer :side bent to form a hook portion adapted-to engage beneath the flanged edge of a pan, and means forturning said rods to swing said pan grasping members into open or closed position. i

'3. The pan lifter as describedin claim 4 inwhich the end portions of the U shaped pan graspingmembers are curved to clear the Contents of a pan that may extend above the top of the pan. I

4. In a pan lifter, a handle, two parallel, spaced apart rods rotatably mounted in the end of said handle and extending outwardly there-from, pan grasping arms secured to said rods, gear segments secured on said rods, and a thumb actuated rack bar meshing with said gear segments. for rotating said rods and opening and closing said pan grasping arms.

5. In a pan lifter, a handle, two parallel, spaced apart rods rotatably mounted in the end of said handle and extending outwardly therefrom,:pan grasping arms secured to said rods, gear segments secured on said rods, a rack bar extending between said gear segments and meshing with the samefor turning the rods and a' spring urging said rack bar in one direction for swinging the pan grasping arms together, said rack bar being adapted to be moved in the opposite direction by manual pressure to swing said pan grasping armsapart.

6; In a pan lifter, a handle,'two parallel, spacedapart rods rotatably mounted'in the end of said handle and extending outwardly therefrom, pan grasping arms secured to said rods, gear segments secured on said rods, a rack bar extending crosswise of the end of said handle between said gear segments and meshing with said gear segments, flange members overhanging the toothed edges of said rack bar and engaging said gear segments to secure the rods in assembled relation Within the handle and a flat spring connected with the upper end of said rack bar and secured to said handle and movable by manual pressure for moving said rack bar to rotate said rods.

7. In a pan litter of the class described a handle having two parallel bores extending from one end inwardly, tworods rotatable in said bores, pan grasping arms and diverging therefrom and having an end pgrtion extending crosswise of the end of the handle between the rods, said end portion overlapping the gear segments to hold the rods in assembled relation Within said bores and a gear rack secured to the inner side of the rod retaining end portion of said spring and meshing With said gear segments, the force of said spring tending to rotate each rod in one direction and manual pressure on said spring tending to rotate 

